Swiss intelligence service to deploy cyber agents

Switzerland has already benefited from the use of cyber agents by intelligence services of other countries. © Keystone

Switzerland is bolstering its fight against terrorism and violent extremism with the use of cyber agents that operate under false identities on the internet.

By the end of the year, the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) plans to use cyber agents that go under cover with false identities to collect intelligence-related data in social networks. This is part of an effort to “adapt to the development of threats in the virtual world,” the Federal Intelligence Service told Swiss public television, SRF.

Swiss intelligence has already benefited from the use of cyber agents from foreign intelligence services in “several cases”. It would now like to develop its own capabilities, independent of partner services.

“The FIS doesn’t give information on the number of virtual agents, nor on their capacities or their schedule,”  said FIS according to Keystone-SDA. From a legal perspective, undercover agents are regulated in the same way whether they are in the real or virtual world. The current law requires the Swiss defence minister, Viola Amherd, to approve each false identity.

The cyber agents will also be subject to the supervision of the supervisory bodies of the FIS, in particular the independent authority to monitor intelligence activities and a special parliamentary committee.